The battle against the bulge can be tiring, frustrating and often lonely. Enter Lisa Lillien, founder of Hungry-Girl.com, a Web site that offers community, advice, recipes, and a few laughs. She answers crucial questions such as, what fast food chain has the lowest-fat options? And which peanut butter brand is healthiest? Here, Hungry Girl talks to LifeScript about her weight loss success and shares her top 8 guilt-free diet foods…

Stay-at-home mom Jennifer Curtis of Corpus Christi, Texas, knows by heart how to live healthfully. After losing 47 pounds and going from a size 14 to a 2, she’s a weight loss pro. She exercises, loosely follows the Weight Watchers Points system, subscribes to Cooking Light magazine, and was selected to appear as an “after” success story in an exercise DVD.

Launched in 2004, Hungry-Girl.com, is a Web site for the calorie-conscious foodie. Yet it isn’t just another list of dreary weight-loss tips and butter-free brownie recipes. Instead, its daily email newsletter aims to make healthy eating an effortless part of your life – along with a belly laugh or two.

Containing sassy headings like “Chew the Right Thing” and “Girls’ Bite Out,” Hungry Girl lets its 300,000-plus daily subscribers in on countless tidbits from the fat-fighting front.

Whether it’s a new light ice cream, the hidden caloric shockers at your favorite restaurants (Macaroni Grill was outed for its healthy-sounding Seared Sea Scallops Salad, which actually has 1,320 calories and 91 grams of fat) or a creative way to indulge on National German Chocolate Cake Day (June 11), Hungry Girl dishes daily diet dirt in a humorous style that’s a breath of fresh air in the crowded weight-loss field.

“It’s true that the [diet market] is crowded, but it was all medical and nutrition experts,” says founder Lillien, the site’s self-proclaimed Hungry Girl.

Lillien started the site after successfully shedding 30 pounds while following her own diet plan.

“I’m not a nutritionist but an Everywoman who’s [looking for] eating tips to survive in the real world,” she says. “And really, there was no one else doing that.” (See related story: Revealed! 20 Easy Ways to Cut 100 Calories)

In addition to community and advice, the site also offers recipes for healthier alternatives to fatty dishes that trip up dieters. But first, the recipe has to pass muster with Lillien.

For example, “Lord of the Onion Rings” – low-fat, baked onion rings made with crumbled Fiber One cereal and Egg Beaters – made it onto the site only after she determined it had enough taste and crunch to stave off cravings for the real thing.

Devotees like Curtis run straight to the kitchen if Lillien gives something a rave. “Even my husband didn’t miss the fat [from regular onion rings] when I made Lisa’s [version],” she says. “Lisa lives and breathes this stuff.”

According to Lillien, it’s her honesty and straight advice that readers are responding to.

“Even though we now have sponsors, my editorial is totally independent, so people feel they can trust me,” she says. “My director of ad sales is a former Weight Watchers member; everyone here tries out the recipes [and lives the same lifestyle].

From Dieter to Guru

Lillien says she had always struggled with her weight. “I was never a wallflower, but when you grow up chubby, kids can be mean,” she recalls. Several years ago, she decided a change was in order and started cutting out carbs and hitting the treadmill regularly.

After shrinking from a size 10 to a 4, Lillien was eager to share all that she had learned.

“I was that person who stood in line at the supermarket and told someone what to buy,” she says with a laugh.

"One day, I found myself speeding to a food lab with a box of pastries on the passenger seat because I didn’t believe the nutritional information. That was my ‘eureka’ moment. I realized I’m too much of a freak not to do something with this! I’m obsessed with food, and I wanted to take that passion and help people.”

A Los Angeles-based marketing executive, Lillien already had Internet experience from working for the Web divisions of movie and TV studios. She quit her job and launched Hungry Girl on a lean budget with an equally tiny mailing list of friends and family.

“I had 200 people on my list originally – friends and friends of friends,” says Lillien, who now employs a staff of five. “Now [some days] we’ll get 5,000 new subscribers! We haven’t even scratched the surface.”

Although she says she never set out to market herself as the main attraction, Lillien is becoming a name brand in her own right. In addition to giving her food opinions on TV’s Extra, the entrepreneur’s calorie-saving recipes and tips appear everywhere from the New York Daily News to Fitness magazine.

And coming soon: A Hungry Girl book from St. Martin’s Press, which won the rights to the title after a bidding war.

“If you do what you love, the rest will follow,” says Lillien, whose next dream is to launch a Hungry Girl food line. And speaking of dreams, Jennifer Curtis’s came true when she got the opportunity to start freelancing for the Web site.

“I couldn’t believe it because I’m Hungry Girl-obsessed,” Curtis says. “I’ve learned so much from them about making better choices at restaurants and supermarkets.”

“[I think people relate to me] because I’m just being myself,” Lillien says. “I’m talking about things I know about. The only thing that’s hard is all the food sent to me. Right now, there are 30 bags of low-fat potato chips and this slow-churned ice cream in the office. I want to try it all at once, but of course I can’t!”

Hungry Girl's Top 8 Guilt-Free Foods

With all the low-cal and low-fat foods out there, it can be hard to know what to pick up. Below, Lillien shares her diet-friendly favorites that are almost too good to be true.

1. House Foods Tofu Shirataki –The world's best guilt-free pasta swap, with only 40 calories for a whole bag! (Sold at select markets, Japanese markets and online at Amazon.com)

2. The Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges –Only 35 calories per wedge, they're great for cheese sauces and can double as a cream cheese swap. (Available at most supermarkets)

3. Almond Breeze, Unsweetened Vanilla –Less than half the calories of skim milk with twice the flavor, this stuff has just 40 calories per cup. (At select markets and Whole Foods locations)

8. Fiber One Bran Cereal (original) – As a breakfast cereal it's great, but when turned into "breadcrumbs" for faux frying, this 60-calorie per 1/2-cup stuff will blow you away! (Available at most supermarkets)

What's Your Ingredient List IQ?

The label on your frozen TV dinner tells you that your meal contains 400 calories and 10 grams of fat, plain and simple. But what else is hiding in the package? They're listed on the mile-long ingredients label, and chances are you don't know what even half of them are, much less how to pronounce them. Test your knowledge of sneaky additives, from yellow #6 to rBGH, with this ingredient quiz.